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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
War crimes suspect Mahmoud Warfali arrested on Hafter’s orders
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Jamiat-e-Islami warns Afghan govt not to further challenge the party’s resilience
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Jamiat-e-Islami party has issued a strong warning to the Afghan government amid rising tensions after the controversial incident in Balkh airport involving the party’s chief executive Ata Mohammad Noor and provincial council member of Balkh Asif Momand.

The party in a statement said Friday that certain circles are attempting to destabilize the relatively calm provinces and those areas under the control of the officials belonging to Jamiat-e-Islami where considerable achievements have been made, apparently pointing towards the Balkh which has been under the leadership of Noor since a long time.

The party harshly criticized the government for remaining reckless to respond the concerns of Jamiat-e-Islami regarding the conspiracies being hatched.

The statement further added that the government has not only responded to their concerns but has also failed to tackle the conspiracies besides the government has failed to consider the growing instability and crisis in the volatile regions.

Jamiat-e-Islami called on the government to refrain from further challenging of the party’s patience and resilience and control those hatching plots to destabilize the peaceful areas of the country.

The incident in Mawlana Jalaluddin Balkhi international airport took place late on Mondaynight during the arrest of Asif Momand, a member of the provincial council of Balkh province.

Momand was arrested late on Monday night in Balkh international airport days after he had accused Ata Mohammad Noor of being involved in massive corruption and there are reports that he was held into the custody by forces belonging to Balkh governor.

Noor had earlier harshly criticized the national security adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar and the national directorate of security chief Mohammad Stanikzai after the clashes and accused the two top security officials of hatching conspiracies to destabilize the northern Balkh province.

Noor said Balkh has been among the relatively calm and peaceful provinces and conspiracies involving plans and projects to destabilize the province should be refrained from.

Posted by: Fred || 08/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Daesh orphans held in Misrata to be returned to Sudan
[Libya Herald] Misrata is to hand over the last seven Sudanese children it still holds to the Sudanese consul in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
so they can be returned home. The parents of the seven, who were taken into custody in Sirte last year, were all killed fighting for the so-called Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
The seven are the last of what was a larger number of Sudanese children caputured last year. The others, whose families were known, have already been handed over and returned to Sudan. It is believed that there have been difficulties tracing the families of the seven.

The children will be handed over to the Sudanese consul in a ceremony in Misrata on Sunday.

Efforts to return some 25 children born to Tunisians involved in IS are taking longer to deal with. The children, mostly under five years of age, are being held in jail in Tripoli with their mothers. The fathers are all dead.

There have been moves by the Tunisian authorities to resolve the issue and in April a delegation from the Tunisian parliament visited Tripoli to try and have the children returned. The issue was also one of the main subjects discussed in May between Tunisia’s foreign minister, Khemaies Jhinaoui, and Presidency Coucnil head Faiez Serraj.

Posted by: Fred || 08/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


War crimes suspect Mahmoud Warfali arrested on Hafter’s orders
[Libya Herald] Khalifa Hafter ordered the arrest 15 days ago of Saiqa Special Forces
...Libya's elite army unit, insofar as they have one, formed from a mixture of paratroopers and commandos. The group emerged from a militia with the same name in 2010. It now numbers a few thousand and reports to the Ministry of Defence. It deployed in Benghazi in an attempt to control the carnage. As a result, it has been attacked and several of its officers murdered. The force is popular in Benghazi for its stance against Ansar al-Sharia group...
major Mahmoud Warfali wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, the Libyan National Army (LNA) said today. The armed forces commander-in-chief also instructed the LNA’s advocate-general to begin his own investigation

The ICC alleges that Warfali featured in videos in which 33 bound captives were murdered in cold blood. It has demanded the LNA officer be handed over for trial in The Hague where the court sits.

In an open statement to the ICC today the LNA said that Hafter had ordered an investigation on 2 August and Warfali had been under arrest since then.

There may be some significance to the LNA’s claim that Warfali was detained almost three weeks ago, well before the ICC issued its warrant. However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
the LNA had in fact said last month, before Hafter issued his order, that Warfali was already under investigation.

After the first execution video emerged this March, the LNA said it would prosecute soldiers who murdered or abused prisoners.

In May after further execution videos surfaced in which Warfali again appeared to feature prominently, he made a very public resignation. Two weeks later however, Saiqa commander Wanis Boukhamada refused to allow him to quit and promoted him from captain to major.

Last month, when the UN Human Rights Commission demanded Warfali be suspended while the crimes recorded on the videos were investigated, the LNA retorted that the UN body should not prejudge the "unverified" footage.

Under its statutes, the ICC can only prosecute those suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity if the local courts have failed, for whatever reason, to take action themselves. The LNA would seem prepared to argue that it is under the authority of the internationally-recognised parliament, the House of Representatives (HoR) and is therefore competent to try Warfali. However the international community also recognises the Presidency Council (PC) in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, which would currently appear to have no chance of taking the Saiqa officer in to custody.

Posted by: Fred || 08/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Arabia
UN fingers Houthis for delaying aid
New York, Aden- Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Jamie McGoldrick has expressed his deep concern over the continuing obstruction to the timely provision of aid to people in need in Yemen.

He said that, for months, humanitarian partners have experienced delays by “authorities in Sana’a” to facilitate the entry of aid workers into Yemen; interference in the delivery of aid and the choice of implementing partners; and hijacking of aid vehicles.

Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, quoted McGoldrick as saying that there have been increased incidents where aid was diverted from the intended beneficiaries in areas under the control of the Sana’a authorities.

He also said that, as basic social services in Yemen are near collapse, there is mounting pressure on aid agencies to expand the humanitarian response.

But he stressed that ensuring unhindered humanitarian access is essential to save the lives of those who depend on assistance, particularly as Yemen is facing an unprecedented cholera crisis and more than 7 million people are at risk of famine.

Furthermore, ships that enter the Yemeni Hodeida Port, which falls under the control of insurgents, are being subject to blackmailing and illegal practices by Houthis.

A commercial ship named “ALLIANCE,” which transports food to Yemen, complained that ships arriving at Hodeida Port are falling victim to illegal practices and are facing several risks, a reliable source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

He said these practices make the port unsafe.

UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed had asked the Security Council that the Houthi militias and forces of the ousted Saleh hand out the port to an impartial party, a matter that was welcomed by the coalition supporting legitimacy in Yemen.
Posted by: badanov || 08/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  Did the Houthis like it?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/19/2017 11:25 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
New JMB’s Shibir connection
[Dhaka Tribune] Leaders and activists of the Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir
... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh...
are allegedly using a "get expelled strategy" to join the New JMB, a new faction of banned krazed killer outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, to carry out terror attacks across Bangladesh.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Europe
The Moroccan who stole his brother’s identity to terrorize Spain
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Barcelona terror attack Sherlocks have been scampering to identify the Las Ramblas attacker until dawn today and have ended up finding near certain information about an 18-year-old Moroccan named Moussa Oukabir.

According to information received by AlArabiya.net, Moussa Oukabir stole the identity of his brother, Driss, aged 28, and used it to rent the van that ploughed through pedestrians at Las Ramblas yesterday afternoon.

The terrorist attack in Barcelona’s City Center claimed the lives of 13 pedestrians, maiming and injuring 100. Another two gunnies entered a restaurant.

One of the van attackers died in a shootout, while two were placed in durance vile
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
but the driver, believed to be Moussa Oukabir, has not been apprehended. ISIS grabbed credit for the attack, the group’s news agency said.

The two suspects in jug from the van attack are a Spanish national and a Moroccan.

Posted by: Fred || 08/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Barcelona Attack Driver Could Be among Five Suspects Killed: Police
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] The driver who mowed down crowds of pedestrians in a busy Barcelona street could be among five suspects shot dead overnight by security forces in a nearby seaside city, police said Friday.

Responding to a question on whether the driver was among those killed, Josep Lluis Trapero of Catalonia’s police said “the investigation points in this direction,” adding there were “clues” that this was the case but no “concrete proof”. Three out of the five suspects have been identified so far.

Posted by: Fred || 08/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Wonder when they're going to start tearing down the monuments to El Cid.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/19/2017 7:38 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Erdogan urges Turks in Germany to vote against Merkel
[Iran Press TV] Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
has urged the large Ottoman Turkish diaspora in Germany to vote against Chancellor Angela Merkel
...current chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as Mom...
in the upcoming German elections, calling the party led by the chancellor "enemies" of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
"I am calling on all my countrymen in Germany: the Christian Democrats, SDP [the Social Democrats], the Green Party are all enemies of Turkey. Support those political parties who are not enemies of Turkey," Erdogan told news hounds after Friday prayers in Istanbul.

He accused those parties of being involved in "aggressive, disrespectful attitudes against Turkey."

The Ottoman Turkish president said, "I invite them to teach a lesson to those political parties at the ballot box."

Germany is set to hold parliamentary elections on September 24, with Chancellor Merkel running for a fourth term.

Berlin has slammed Erdogan for "interference" in Germany's elections, condemning his statements as an attempt to incite Germans against each other.

"That is an unprecedented act of interference in the illusory sovereignty of our country," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told the RedaktionsNetzwerk media group on Friday.

"Erdogan's interference in Germany's electoral campaign shows that he wants to incite people in Germany against each other," he added.

Merkel has said there would be no expansion of the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
's customs union with Turkey or a deepening in the EU-Ottoman Turkish relations, remarks which have angered Ankara.
Posted by: Fred || 08/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  Does pop-corn go with a good single malt?
Posted by: AlanC || 08/19/2017 8:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I believe a good single malt goes good with anything, AlanC.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 08/19/2017 8:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Even without anything
Posted by: European Conservative || 08/19/2017 17:21 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Balochistan launches initiative to include 'worldly education' in seminaries
[DAWN] The Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
government has launched an accelerated learning pathway (ALP) programme to bring religious seminaries operating in the province into the mainstream.

The ALP seeks to broaden the scope of education in the seminaries and has been jointly launched by the provincial government and the Balochistan Rural Support Program (BRSP), a non-government organization operating in Quetta and Pishin districts.

In the first phase of the initiative, worldly education is being taught in 90 seminaries, besides religious education.

"We want to bring all madressahs (seminaries) into the mainstream," Secretary Education Abdul Fatah Bhangar told a meeting of the Balochistan Advisory Council for Education (BACE) on Thursday evening as the initiative was launched.

Educationists, well-known religious scholars and members of the civil society participated in the meeting.

"Our utmost effort is to bring the out of school children into schools," said BRSP Chief Nadir Gul Bareech.

Posted by: Fred || 08/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Basic organic chemistry and basic electrical circuitry?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/19/2017 15:25 Comments || Top||


Iraq
20,000 Hashd Sha’abi fighters to take part in Tal Afar operation
[Iran Press TV] Spokesman for the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) says thousands of pro-government fighters are going to participate in the upcoming operation to retake the northern city of Tal Afar from the ISIS Takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
terrorists.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Leb-based Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network on Friday, Ahmed al-Asadi said 20,000 volunteer forces, commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, will take part in the forthcoming battle for Tal Afar, located 63 kilometers west of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
He added that Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, is going to set the zero hour to start the operation.

"We have information about the presence of foreigners within ISIS ranks in Tal Afar, but we do not know their identity," Asadi pointed out.

He noted that the operation to liberate Tal Afar will not take long, but rather several weeks.
Posted by: Fred || 08/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  cutting their part of the pie before their young ones decapitate them for raping them when they were but Ten Years Old.
Sound Familiar? It will.
Posted by: newc || 08/19/2017 1:20 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel Says it Hit Nearly '100 Hizbullah' Arms Convoys in 5 Years
[AnNahar] Israel's military army has carried out nearly 100 strikes in the past five years on convoys carrying weapons to Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
and other krazed killer groups in Syria and elsewhere, an Israeli general said Thursday.

Former air force commander Amir Eshel told Haaretz newspaper that "since 2012, I'm talking about many dozens of strikes... the number is close to being three digits".

"An action could be an isolated thing, small and pinpointed, or it could be an intense week involving a great many elements," he said of the strikes.

Since Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, Israel has maintained a policy of attacking arms convoys intended for Hizbullah, which is a key supporter of the Syrian regime and fought a devastating war against the Jewish state in 2006.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last year that Israel had "taken military action" against Iranian convoys leading weapons to Hizbullah "dozens and dozens of times".
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  No wonder Obama was pissed
Posted by: Frank G || 08/19/2017 0:37 Comments || Top||

#2  If the Iranians were unhappy, then Soetoro was unhappy.That it was the Israelis doing the work just added to it.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/19/2017 8:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Not to quibble, but:
What's a convoy? More than one vehicle moving in tandem. Under Israeli ROE, a target by any other name.
Posted by: ed in texas || 08/19/2017 10:13 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US plans decades-long military presence in northern Syria: SDF
[Iran Press TV] A US-backed militia group in northern Syria says American forces plan to remain in the Arab state "for decades to come" after the fall of ISIS, adding that Washington is not providing support to anti-Damascus bandidos snuffies "for free."

In a Thursday report by Rooters, Talal Silo, the front man for the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of militias dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), said the SDF believes that Washington has "strategic interests here after the end of ISIS."

"They have a strategy policy for decades to come. There will be military, economic and political agreements in the long term between the leadership of the northern areas (of Syria)... and the US administration," Silo said.

The Kurdish-dominated SDF holds 400-kilometer (250-mile) stretch of the Syrian-Ottoman Turkish border. The US has deployed forces at several locations in northern Syria, providing support to the SDF with air strikes, artillery and special forces on the ground.

The SDF is involved in an operation against ISIS bully boyz in Raqqah Province.

In July, the head of the YPG said the US had established seven military bases in northern Syria, including a major air base near the border town of Kobani.

Posted by: Fred || 08/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



Who's in the News
21[untagged]
11Islamic State
4Taliban
4Govt of Pakistan
3Arab Spring
2Commies
2Houthis
1Sublime Porte
1Thai Insurgency
1al-Shabaab (AQ)
1Baloch Liberation Army
1Govt of Syria
1Hezbollah
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Moslem Colonists

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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
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Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
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Glenmore
Frank G
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2017-08-19
  War crimes suspect Mahmoud Warfali arrested on Hafter’s orders
Fri 2017-08-18
  Finland attack – ‘Several people injured after multiple knifemen rampage through city of Turku' amid reports of shots fired
Thu 2017-08-17
  Breaking: Barcelona Van Attack on Pedestrians.
Wed 2017-08-16
  Tunisia says IS plot to seize territory foiled
Tue 2017-08-15
  Russia foils two ISIS suicide bombers who planned to blow themselves up on the subway in Moscow
Mon 2017-08-14
  At least 17 killed in attack on restaurant in Burkina Faso
Sun 2017-08-13
  IS executes its Legal Judge in Hawija for attempting to secede
Sat 2017-08-12
  30 Taliban insurgents killed as suicide vests explodes in Farah gathering
Fri 2017-08-11
  Theft and kidnapping ravages north Aleppo as Erdogan’s Syrian caliphate experiment fails
Thu 2017-08-10
  Gang convicted of sex offences against vulnerable girls in England
Wed 2017-08-09
  Police hunt BMW driver who mowed down six French soldiers in Paris
Tue 2017-08-08
  Kurdish authorities arrest 1700 Islamic State militants among displaced civilians
Mon 2017-08-07
  Taliban kill 30 villagers in Afghanistan's Sari Pul province
Sun 2017-08-06
  Governor of Galgaduud region shot dead in Somali capital
Sat 2017-08-05
  US confirms airstrike killed al-Shabab commander in Somalia

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